“Big Brother” Recap: 5 Players Who Need A Big Move

Yet again, though we were faced with the prospect of a surprise eviction in either Amanda or Candice, the Big Brother HGs instead eliminated the declared threat on Thursday’s episode, Howard, and now we’re left with a disheartening realization: We might be left with just floaters soon. Seriously. I know dynamos like Helen and Amanda still run the house, but they’re going to have to play a different game if they’re to outlast meeker foes like Judd and Jessie. BB15 is certainly a thrilling season, but it’s game of backfired powerplays and resentful alliances. It’s only the big’uns who leave the house. And that means it’s time for certain houseguests to step up, own their place in the house, and make sure the season remains good, eye-popping TV for its entire duration — not just for the next few weeks.

So today, let’s count up the five cast members who have the most work to do if they’re going to win this season.

5. Andy

I’ve said this a hundred times, but I’ll say it again: I really like Andy. I think his humor is pretty sophisticated for Big Brother, and although we don’t see a lot of him on the actual broadcast, he seems to be present for most major conversations in the house. But if there’s one thing that can work against an HG, it’s being friends with everyone. Hell, Kaitlin said she felt betrayed by his vote. Andy definitely has game if he’s successfully ingratiated himself with so many people, but it’s a suspicious and pandering mode of gameplay. Soon he’ll need to be definitive about the people he’s really aligned with.

4. GinaMarie

She’s a firestarter who’s totally inconsequential. That’s the worst kind of firestarter. And as far as I can tell, GinaMarie has only made the wrong moves so far in this game: She sided with Aaryn and Kaitlin, made herself completely unsympathetic with her bizarre Nick traumas, and exerted no effort to temper her own hysterics. She’s simply toxic, and that’s why GinaMarie needs a total image overhaul (and an HOH victory or three) to become viable.

3. Jessie

Even after that overemotional chat with Howard about how he could really use the prize money (Did anyone else think Howard looked perturbed and little annoyed by Jessie there?), Jessie still voted Howard out of the house. Though this is a spineless game for spineless people, but among invertebrates, Jessie only ranks as a garter snake. She needs to assert authority in a major way soon, otherwise she’s doomed for a top 3 finish with no chance of a single jury vote.

2. Spencer

Yet again, Spencer showed us that he’s both smart and stupid on last night’s show. He shouldn’t have resorted to naming Candice in his tiff with Amanda, but in a weird way, it was hard not to appreciate the fact that he shut down Amanda’s aggressive, Lady Macbeth-style power-manuevering. Have we seen that happen yet? Though he shouldn’t have called her a b*tch, it was kind of awesome to see her (act) speechless. Spencer is evolving from a jackass to at least a rightfully incendiary player. If he can harness that bull-in-a-china-shop righteousness, he may be able to get farther than I’ve previously estimated.

1. Candice

Here’s what I learned Thursday night: Despite Candice’s ability to read trends in the house (which she’s done multiple times), she has no ability to enact change with any intelligence. Her summoned powwow with the entire rest of the cast after she heard that Spencer “wanted her out of the house” (a lie he told to placate Amanda)? Almost unthinkably embarrassing. As Spencer said, all Candice achieved was putting a target on her back, and now Aaryn and Jessie (and probably more) think she’s damaged goods who should be promptly removed from the vicinity. I still think Candice deserves a firm handshake of congratulations for picking out the Moving Company’s secret members first, but she plays this game in a diametrically different way than Helen does: Helen responds to emotional situations with doubled-down restraint; when the game gets emotional around Candice, she gets twice as emotional. That’s no way to win.

Who’s comeback are you rooting for? Andy? Tell me Andy. Be a human and pick Andy.